THREE ALL I HAD

     "How much do you reckon the only reason we still have Hogsmeade weekends is to keep some illusion of normalcy while we're here? McGonagall's idea, no doubt," Diana muttered as she sipped on an icy butterbeer as they sat in the Three Broomsticks. It wasn't nearly as packed as it used to be, the only patrons being a few scattered students and Madam Rosmerta wiping a glass at the bar. Hogsmeade held very little wonder for Xander ever since he watched Katie Bell get cursed on that snowy afternoon last year.

"It's not doing much," Xander scoffed, "but it is nice to get out of that stuffy castle. I will say that. This whole thing is so weird around Hogwarts, it's hard to pretend things are normal and go to classes like nothing is happening."

Diana chuckled at this, "My parents probably wouldn't have let me come back if I told them. It would remind them too much of France, I just know it."

"What happened back in France?"

"Jesus, you need to pay attention in Muggle Studies," Diana scoffed, "I'm lending you my text book for it, reckon it's about time you learn about the fuckin' Holocaust. I never thought something like that could even happen in the wizarding world, but I'm starting to feel like I have a target on my back just by having muggle parents --"

"Oi, child!" Madam Rosmerta's harsh voice interrupted their conversation, "Don't be sayin' things like that 'round here! Ya never know who might be listening!"

The girl just nodded and went quiet as she lowered her voice to a whisper, "You know, I heard from Neville who heard from Ginny, he thinks Harry and them are hunting these things called horcruxes? Ever heard of 'em? Apparently, if they find 'em, they can kill Voldemort. Wouldn't it be nice if it was that easy, eh?"

"The lack of sincerity in your voice when you talk about these things is frightening," Xander commented, his expression deadly serious as he contemplated the words the girl was saying. Voldemort being dead didn't exactly sound like something that was possible. Even if he was killed, there was no doubt his ideologies would linger for longer than they should. Now that it had been unleashed, people like Diana and Xander would always feel like targets.

Diana just shrugged as she finished the rest of her butterbeer, "If you get to sad about it, that's how they get you. They want me to be afraid, but I'm not gonna give 'em the satisfaction."

The boy still couldn't shake off the dark feeling it held in his heart as he looked at his best friend. He snapped himself out of his thought to say, "I-I think we should head back to the castle. They said they wanted everyone back before dinner."

"Sounds good to me," Diana shrugged as she stood and put on her coat.

"I'm gonna use the bathroom really quick," Xander told her. She nodded and he walked over to one of the two bathrooms in the Three Broomsticks. He stared at his reflection in the dirty mirror for a moment, turning on the sink and letting cold water run over his hands. He raised his hands to his face, letting the icy feeling sink into his tan skin. When he met his eyes in the mirror, he remembered the moment with Draco in the bathroom back at school. His mind flashed to watching the boy he was in love with bleed out on drowning tile. The cold water on his face blended in with the soft, salty tears welling in his eyes. He didn't even know why he cried anymore, he never used to cry this much. 

Sighing, he wiped his eyes and opened the door, heading back out into the main area. He looked for his friend who should be easy to spot considering the lack of customers, but Diana was nowhere to be found. Frowning, he figured she must be waiting for him outside. However, when he stepped outside, the only person he saw was Ginny Weasley walking with Neville Longbottom as they headed back in the direction of campus. They waved to him and he waved back, but his mind was racing. Pushing open the door of the Three Broomsticks, he ran back to face the bar where Madam Rosmerta was still polishing the glass.

"Did you see where my friend went? She was waiting right over there for me, did you see her?" Xander asked, sounding out of breath. His heart was racing.

Madam Rosmerta shot him a saddened, somber look, "I told her to be careful with what she says. It's a different time --"

Xander didn't need to hear any more before he took off running. His eyes were watery as he sprinted back down the path to the castle, his legs carrying him faster than he had ever run before. It was times like this he would have been grateful for his skateboard, but he knew if he tried to ride that thing in the panic he was in right now he would crash and burn. He pushed through the doors of the castle, students looking at him like he was crazy and maybe he was, but more importantly he was terrified for the fate of his friend. She was just there. Then she was gone.

The first professor he saw was McGonagall and he ran over to her so quickly they almost collided. He clung onto the sleeve of her robe as he exclaimed through tears, "Professor, Profressor, they took Diana, they took her. Someone overheard her saying she was muggle-born, I know it. I left for two seconds, two seconds, Professor--"

"Mr. Sakai, calm down, talk to me," the woman spoke, the fear prevalent in her voice. She grabbed him gently by the shoulder and pulled him into her classroom. It had been a while since he had her class, but it still smelled like it was his second year in Transfiguration. "What's happening?"

Grabbing onto the side of a desk, he sat down against it on the hardwood floor, tucking his legs into himself as he tried to catch his breath, "She told me they were taking muggle-borns, I didn't believe her. I thought there was no way something like that could just happen and people would let them! I thought we would be safe at Hogwarts, we've always been safe at Hogwarts, but I went to use the bathroom and when I came back out... when I came back out, Professor, she was gone. Diana was gone. Like she had never been there in the first place. She had pretended to be calm about everything that was happening, but I knew she was scared, I knew she was scared. I said I'd keep her safe, I promised!"

"Xander," it was rare McGonagall ever addressed a student by their first name, but he could hear the comfort in her voice as she helped him to his feet. Surprisingly, she pulled him into a hug, "I'll notify Professor Sprout. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do but hope that Snape will contact the Ministry. Merlin, I never thought they would touch a hair on a students' head, but I'm afraid... I'm afraid things are not as safe as they used to be."

Xander sniffled, looking up at the woman. The pity in her eyes was something he never wanted to see. She had watched her students grow up here and now she was going to watch them enter a war.

"She was all I had left."